Sad to be disappointed: I thought Nîmes was going to be about denims, and so I had a quick look only to discover a French Chicago confection.
Seriously, though, it does raise my morning to see those who denigrate an orderly, natural and facilitatory cataloguing of genres do exactly the same thing; guess that as long as they do the cataloguing...
Oh well, as one can't be undemocratic, here's my idea on the listings:
1. Landscape. This would cover stuff shot from old tripod holes, and would certainly include deserts.
2. Mountains. This would include general hilly topography, including representations of huge psychological barriers one faced and overcame.
3. Rivers - Live.
4. Rivers - Dead.
(If dry, then these could, alternatively, be posted within a Financials folder; if flowing, then an easy home to be found within a Religion folder to be created later on.)
5. Architectural Atmospherics. This would embrace creative, non-literal images of the structure of the city (or small town) with emphasis on the physical structures as art, the definition of that art being at moderator discretion.
6. Street Art. This refers to photographs with emphasis on the little, minor jewels of city life, resident in the colours, juxtapositions and native appeal of objects that may or may not have an intrinsic appeal on their own, but, seen in conjunction with their surroundings, do have a charm - that certain je ne sais quoi. These images differ from those in Category 5 because they tend to focus on the micro rather than the macro dimensions of city.
7. Candid. This, reverting to an earlier definition, means photographs of people who must never be posed by the photographer in any way, including the seeking of permission to photograph. These pictures can be on an actual street or within a bar, shop or any other place that is not a domestic home, in which latter case they fall into another catatgory: Happy Snap. Candid photography must invoke a sense of excitement, surrealism, ambiguity, pathos or even of humour. It must never make the viewer ask WhyTF did anybody bother to shoot that? The jury is still out on whether dogs are allowed in the enclosure.
8. Documentary. These images cannot be posted in isolation, because they require a themed story in order to make sense. Once the theme becomes of world renown, then they can be posted on their own, their existing fame providing the required backstory that lends them place and relevance; not everyone is born to document Pittsburgh.
9. Street. This can include roadworks, damaged surfaces, complaints to local authorities etc. with potholes and damaged alloys a special subdivision closely related to Financials/Legal.
10. Monochrome. This will include any photograph, within or without a recognized genre, just as long as it is tinted in a single tone. It can also include straight black/white photographs.
11. Black and White. This is for images that resemble a previous, now-scorned purity of vision, and will originate from real, wet process black and white photographs (non-tinted) or digitally processed black and white photographs not tinted in any way. Of course, intermediate tones of grey are accepted and expected.
12. Pets. This should be divided into two viewing sections: Children; Adults Only.
13. Travel. If it would look good in a brochure selling holidays, then it's travel. This comes in two flavours: if it follows the guidelines of Sections 5 and 7, then it is travel atmospherics; if it is factual and not interpretative, then it comes into the category of Record and Document.
14. Bird. This will generally refer to images where the attention is on feathers. It must not be confused with the second part of Section 12, which is another fetish altogether.
15. Showcase. I would seriously discourage this from being included. Experience. I had one for the early part of my career, and I drove up to the studio one morning to find the glass in shards at my feet. Which was bad enough, but to find that some large fashion pictures had been stolen was something else: I didn't know whether to feel outraged or flattered. Guess another wannabe Bailey, just like I'd been, was roaming the night! Poor bugger; I hope he found what he was looking for, other than just somebody else's snaps.
16. Abstracts. This section is beyond classification. It is reserved for the confused of mind, so, clearly, anything goes.
17. Wabi-sabi. Not to be confused with the proscribed Political threads of yesteryear, the implications are all too clearly there. Let's make the world great again! Coca-Cola might adopt that as its next theme song.
18. Seascape. I left this one to the end because the sea makes some sick. Personally, I love the sea, most of all being upon it on somebody else's big yacht. Ferries: they are a sign of freedom, even if horribly utilitarian. Cruise Boats: lonely hearts safaris for older female huntresses to find desperate, older rich men as prey.
